Alex Teixeira was supposedly desperate for a Premier League switch to aid his chances of being selected by Brazil, so we’re not sure if we can really trust these quotes after he today agreed to sign for unknown Chinese club Jiangsu Suning.
The club only went professional in 1994, but have now broken the Chinese Super League record to secure the 26-year-old for £38.4m – a fee Liverpool flatly refused to do business at. They also snapped up Chelsea’s Ramires in January, while making Teixeira one of the world’s highest paid players in the process.
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So you can forgive us for taking this practical apology with a pinch of salt…
“Everyone always knew that I wanted to stay in Europe and move to an English Premier League club,” Teixeira told the official Shakhtar website, cited by Goal.
“I wanted to make it to the Premier League one day. But, unfortunately, all the proposals that came from them were somewhat unsubstantial and did not contain anything concrete.
“I received a serious offer from China, so of course I took it. I discussed it with my family and the people that are close to me. I consulted with my wife the most and she supported my decision.
“Despite the fact that it all took place at a lightning speed, I would not say that it was an easy decision. I just had to respond quickly.
“But leaving the people with whom I have worked for so many years and who helped me grow, with whom I made friends is, of course, difficult.”
You can obviously understand and respect Shakhtar’s decision to sell Teixeira to China as they’ve a right to find the club willing to pay the biggest transfer fee.
But Teixeira could have easily waited until the summer, helped Shakhtar try and win the Europa League in the meantime and had his pick of plenty of large European clubs come the end of the season.
Instead, he’s practically ended his international ambitions and chosen the money instead.
In a way, good luck to him. He’s now one of the world’s highest paid workers at his chosen profession. But maybe he’s not the kind of character we want at Anfield.